With the many new academic and research facilities being constructed and opened at our university, more subtle developments can thrive without many of us noticing. Such is the case with our campus gardens featured in the latest Chancellor's Spotlight on Excellence video.

The video reminds me of growing up in Pennsylvania. Our family lived in the country and although my parents weren't farmers, it was the farmer from down the road who drove his tractor to our land each spring to till the soil for our garden. It was the size of a football field, and my summer-long chore was weeding the garden. I could weed about two rows a day and when all rows were finished, it was time to start over.

Our UWM Food and Garden Club members have a bit less territory to cover. On rooftops and scattered across campus are 2,300 square feet of gardens producing tomatoes, squash, green beans, watermelons and more for various university foodservice operations.

The approaching Thanksgiving break and the holiday theme of harvest is a particularly good time to feature this video. In it, there's conversation about how the gardens bring people together from across campus to create a sense of community.

Carrying forward that concept, I offer my best wishes to you for celebrating the harvest and reconnecting with family and friends at Thanksgiving. I also thank you for making UWM a great university and a university for which I am proud to serve as chancellor.

Best,

Michael R. LovellChancellor

PS--If you have any problems opening the link to the video in the first paragraph, please use this URL instead: http://youtu.be/kLwUcrJRBH0